HBA-SEP C.S.H.B. 2798 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2798 By: Menendez Criminal Jurisprudence 4/27/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Few effective options exist for law enforcement to stop fleeing vehicles safely. Other than physical arrest, vehicle pursuit is the most common high-liability area of law enforcement. A 1996 report by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center estimates that a collision of some type can be expected to occur in 32 percent of police pursuits. When the severity of these collisions is analyzed, 20 percent will result in property damage, 13 percent will result in personal injury, and 1.2 percent will result in a fatality. Approximately 70 percent of all pursuit-related injuries and fatalities will involve the occupants of the pursued vehicle, while 14 percent will involve law enforcement and 15 percent, innocent, uninvolved parties. Increasing the penalty and financial responsibility for persons convicted of evading arrest or detention may serve as a deterrent for future incidents. C.S.H.B. 2798 increases the penalty and financial responsibility for a person convicted of evading arrest or detention. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2798 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to add to the definition of "victim," in relation to provisions regarding restitution liens, an individual who suffers damages as a result of another evading arrest or detention, in which the defendant used a motor vehicle while the defendant was in flight. The bill adds that the state has a restitution lien to secure the amount of damages incurred by the state as a result of a defendant using a motor vehicle while the actor is in flight to evade arrest or detention (evading arrest). The bill increases, from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony, the penalty for evading arrest or detention if the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has not been previously convicted for evading arrest. The bill also increases, from a state jail felony to a third degree felony, the penalty for using a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has previously been convicted for evading arrest. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2798 modifies the original to increase, from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony, the penalty for evading arrest or detention if the actor uses a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has not been previously convicted for evading arrest or detention. The substitute also increases, from a state jail felony to a third degree felony, the penalty for using a vehicle while the actor is in flight and the actor has previously been convicted for evading arrest or detention.